5 Best Finance Reporting Tools: How to Choose?

Financial reporting is a mission critical task for any business, regardless of its sector or size. Without accurate financial reporting, it is impossible to determine key metrics such as net profit, total expenses or shareholder earnings.

In order for the information they contain to be considered reliable, financial reports must be accurate and completed in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

Finance reporting tools can simplify this process by combining the power of artificial intelligence with the convenience of automation. We’re going to share our top financial reporting tools list and more!

Coming Up

What is Financial Reporting?

What Are the Benefits of Financial Reporting?

What Are the Types of Financial Reporting?

What Are Financial Reporting Tools?

What Are the Benefits of Financial Reporting Tools?

What Are the Best Features of Financial Reporting Tools?

What Are the Best Financial Reporting Tools?

Wrap Up

What is Financial Reporting?

Financial reporting is the process of gathering all of a company’s relevant financial data and creating reports that are in compliance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Proper financial reporting will have three key statements/reports, which include:

• Income statement
• Cash flow statement
• Balance sheet

Together, these three statements paint a comprehensive picture of a company’s overall health, financial viability and success for the reporting period.

CFOs are responsible for collecting, organizing and interpreting the statements, which are also critical in terms of satisfying regulatory requirements as well as keeping shareholders informed.

Proper financial reporting is done on a regularly scheduled basis, and the information they provide can be used to gather insight about long-term trends and important data.

What Are the Benefits of Financial Reporting?

Financial reporting offers several important benefits to CFOs and company decision makers. Most importantly, it illustrates how much money the company is generating in relation to how much it’s spending.

Since making more money than it spends is the key goal of every company, the reality is that no company can be sure it’s being run properly if it’s not doing financial reporting.

Additionally, CFOs can refer to past financial reports to identify and plan for trends such as seasonal downturns, or upticks in business during high demand periods. This will allow them to make better decisions about everything from ordering to hiring.

Lastly, financial reporting keeps companies in compliance with their financiers and industry specific regulators, both of whom have a vested interest in making sure all the company’s numbers add up.

Automated software options like SolveXia help companies generate accurate financial reports and save time for the accounting staff. With SolveXia, all of the data they would have to collect, enter and tabulate manually can now be done with the push of a button.

With SolveXia’s financial reporting tool and automation suite, you can finish processes 85x faster with 90% fewer errors. Additionally, you’ll be able to continuously improve processes and maintain internal control, which improves regulatory compliance.

That means companies can issue reports that are consistent with GAAP without having to dedicate the entire accounting staff’s productive efforts or cease normal accounting operations for an extended period to prepare financial reports.  

What Are the Types of Financial Reporting?

There are numerous different types of financial reporting, which can be used to report data from many areas of company operations. Although some reports may be industry specific, every company will have three main types of reports, which include:

• The income statement
• Cash flow statement
• Balance sheet

However, there are scores of other reports that can be generated with financial close software. Some examples of those reports include:

• Invoice reports by client
• Outgoing expenditures
• Quarterly reporting
• Annual tax and shareholder reporting
• Employee commission reports
• Employee overtime and payroll reporting

What Are Financial Reporting Tools?

Financial reporting tools are computer software (often cloud based) that assist companies in gathering, processing and collating the data necessary to create accurate financial reports. As companies grow in size, the scope of their operations can pose a challenge to creating accurate financial reporting.

The use of financial close software can integrate information gathering efforts across multiple locations simultaneously, which is something that accounting staff would have to do manually without the assistance of a tool.

Without the assistance of these tools, compiling and processing the data necessary for financial reporting would likely overwhelm accounting staff. This could cause delays in reporting, which may throw the company out of compliance with regulators.

Finance reporting tools like SolveXia automatically collects data from multiple sources in addition to allowing users to create customized reports and dashboards. It also features user-friendly dashboards that will give CFOs, financial staff and any interested parties real-time insights into the data they’ve collected.

What Are the Benefits of Financial Reporting Tools?

Financial reporting tools offer CFOs a vast array of benefits, especially when compared to doing financial reporting manually. Benefits include:

1. Efficiency

Chief among these benefits is efficiency. Companies that have multiple locations or operate on a global scale will undoubtedly be handling different tasks at different times. So, they may not always be ready to conduct financial close reporting when the home office is.

Waiting for all a company’s different offices or locations to manually compile information and send it to the accounting staff (who will still need time to organize it and actually make the report) is both inefficient and time consuming.

2. Accuracy

Another significant benefit of financial reporting tools is the enhanced accuracy they offer. The more data a company collects through manual entry, the more likely it is that there will be an improper or missing entry.

This leads to inaccurate reporting, or statements that don’t balance. The only way for accounting staff to solve those problems is to manually go back through all the reports until they identify the inaccuracy. Financial reporting tools greatly diminish, if not eliminate, the possibility that human error will lead to inaccurate reporting.

3. Accessibility and Security

SolveXia’s finance automation tool offers businesses the advantage of being both user-friendly and cloud-based. That means records can be kept off-site (and safe from events like fires, flood or theft), and easily accessed upon command.

CFO’s and key decision makers can pull up their company’s latest data with the push of a button instead of making a call to the home office and waiting for it to be sent over.

What Are the Best Features of Financial Reporting Tools?

There is no shortage of financial close automation software for CFOs and accounting professionals to choose from. With that said, the best tools have some key features in common that almost every firm will need, regardless of the size or scope of their operation.

Some of those key features are:

1. Automation

The best finance reporting tools can automatically collect the necessary data and generate the basic reports that companies need.

This feature increases efficiency and relieves accounting staff from the burden of requesting, printing and collating all the data from the company’s various departments. Without an automation function, the usefulness of a financial reporting tool is greatly compromised.

2. Customization Capabilities

Although every company will need their chosen finance close software to conduct the basic reports that any business needs, many businesses have industry or company specific data they collect.

A good financial reporting tool will allow companies to easily create custom reports, ideally ones that can be generated automatically and without needing IT.

3. Security

Aside from patented trade secrets, a company’s financial data is the most sensitive information in its possession. Things like bank account numbers, balances and Tax ID numbers are just a few examples of the data that may appear on financial reports.

Therefore, any financial automation tool worth its salt must have a robust security function that is highly resistant to both hackers and phishing attempts. Ideally,  the software will have both data encryption and multi-step identification/login capabilities.

4. Compatibility

Companies that are changing to a new financial reporting tool, or going to one for the first time will always prioritize the tool that offers the greatest compatibility with their existing data storage and accounting methods.

This allows for a much smoother transition to the new tool and minimizes the stress placed on the accounting staff (or other departments). It will also make using the tool in the long term much easier.

What Are the Best Financial Reporting Tools?

What the actual “best” financial reporting tool for your company is may come down to a matter of individual choice and your company’s specific needs. With that said, this list of the best financial reporting tools might help you narrow your search down.

1. SolveXia

SolveXia’s finance reporting tool offers users an ideal combination of flexibility, ready on day one functionality, user-friendliness, customization and security.

Users can set up SolveXia and generate financial close reports without any coding experience or knowledge. Additionally, SolveXia is compatible with almost hundreds of preexisting tools, data sets and apps.

Along with financial reporting, SolveXia is equipped to automate key functions, including: reconciliation, expense analytics, rebate management, regulatory reporting, and more!

That means integrating it into your current operation will be easy, and you’ll still have the benefit of an advanced solution that can create both basic and customized reports. Topping it all off is the fact that SolveXia is cost-effective and extremely scalable.

Operations large and small can use this tool for all their financial reporting needs. Once implemented, you no longer have to worry about key person dependencies or bottlenecks, as the process flows run smoothly and in a standardized manner.

2. Sage Intacct

Sage Intacct offers a tool that is focused heavily on customization options and user-friendliness. It offers users a simple dashboard with very solid drop and drag capabilities that allows for the creation of a variety of reports and multiple functions. It has a robust data visualization capability and an interface that many users enjoy operating.

However, Sage Intacct is a little bit more oriented towards Saas and hospitality operations. Integrating Sage Intacct with existing datasets and software can be a challenge and despite its user-friendliness, there is a long learning curve to navigate before users can maximize its capabilities.

3. Oracle Netsuite

Oracle offers one of the most highly respected, and powerful financial reporting tools on the market. This software is used by numerous fortune 500 companies and gives CFOs a user-friendly tool that offers powerful analytics that can generate advanced reports.

Everything from tax management to advanced analytics is possible with Oracle and it has a very strong automated function capability.

However, the power provided by Oracle comes at a relatively high price. It’s not the most affordable option (especially for smaller to midsize companies). There is also a significant time investment that must be made to master Oracle’s capabilities and the options for customized reporting are less than plentiful.

4. Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel is the elder statesman of financial reporting tools. This spreadsheet-based program was originally developed by Microsoft, which means it’s compatible with PCs all over the world.

Users can create highly detailed reports that will easily satisfy GAAP requirements and give shareholders a complete picture of the company’s overall health. However, Excel does have limitations.

Specifically, it has a long-standing reputation for being less than user-friendly. To truly maximize the power of this tool, you need a skilled hand. However, that could make your company over-reliant on a few key staff members; and in a lurch if they are unavailable due to illness or a change of jobs.

Lastly, excel spreadsheet data does not update automatically to a central source, which means individual entries by different staff members may not automatically appear on the reports that other team members are working off of.

5. Quickbooks

Quickbooks is one of the oldest, and most trusted tools for financial close management. This software is particularly well-suited to small businesses or independent operations who have not yet advanced to a point where they need a full-time accounting staff.

It is user friendly, affordable and it will allow business owners to create the three most important financial reports relatively easily. However, it’s not the best software for larger companies due to its lack of customization options and customer support. Larger, multi-state or multinational operations may want to look elsewhere.

Wrap Up

No company can be successful, or even exist without financial reporting. Unfortunately, the task of gathering data from different departments and multiple transactions gets progressively difficult as companies get larger. One of the best ways to manage this mission critical function is through the use of financial reporting tools.

Automated finance reporting tools like SolveXia will help CFOs and accounting staff do what they do best: interpret data and use it to generate greater insights to achieve higher profits. That can’t happen if they’re constantly tied down with the nuts and bolts of manual financial reporting.

SolveXia’s combination of user-friendliness, customization capability and power makes it an ideal choice. Book a free demo with SolveXia today, and find out how this financial reporting tool can make your life easier.